Sponsored: From snacking and confectionery to baked goods, California Raisins has the natural answer.

Have you ever thought what you can add to your products to not only enhance their flavour, but add natural sweetness and healthy goodness too?

Well look no further, whatever your product, California Raisins are an excellent way of adding a healthy aspect to your range.

California Raisins are an all-natural product, nothing added, nothing taken away. They can add vitamins, minerals, fiber, and sweetness to all types of products, from breakfast bars and cereals to cookies, snacks, and confectionery.

The California Raisin Administrative Committee states that the naturally occurring sugars in the raisins, mainly fructose and glucose, means that California Raisins can be used as a sugar replacement in many products and clearly with the ever-increasing march towards healthy foods, less added sugar must be good news.

Sugars naturally present in dried fruits are monosaccharides (single unit sugars) fructose and glucose and disaccharides (two-unit sugar) sucrose and maltose.

Another positive aspect of California Raisins is their vitamin and mineral content, which they contain in abundance, including calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, and zinc as well as vitamins B1, B6, A, C, and E.

Food Development

The California Raisin Administrative Committee has been working with many top quality bakers, chefs, confectioners, and Patisseries over the years, to demonstrate how California Raisins can be used in different products.

California Raisins the little fruit that adds big taste to breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack time is also a friendly food for diabetics. Recent research shows that consuming this all natural, sun-dried no-sugar-added fruit can positively affect glucose levels and systolic blood pressure among people with type 2 diabetes mellitus (t2DM)1.

Two clinical trials were conducted comparing the effects of raisin intake to commonly used snacks in people, first, with pre-diabetes and second, with T2D. In both groups, the intakes in raisin snacks three times daily significantly decreased blood pressure compared to conventional snacks, and blood glucose values were favourably affected by raisins compared to other snacks’ (research – James W. Anderson, MD, Professor of Medicine and Clinical Nutrition, Emeritus, University of Kentucky). Diabetic patients look for foods to satisfy their cravings for sweet tastes and flavours.

The California Raisin Administrative Committee continue to work with food developers in all sectors of the food industry to help in providing a fresh take on healthy, easy to use, versatile California Raisins.

For a copy of our booklet California Raisins Naturally Sweet – A guide to California raisins for diabetics contact: dee@comeintothegarden.co.uk